Short-range remote access and control of a motor vehicle can be achieved with a user-borne low-power RF transceiver such as a so-called “smart key fob”. For example, the fob can be used not only to gain entry to the vehicle, but also to start the engine, access vehicle status information, and so forth. Similar functionality can be achieved with a personal communication device such as a cell phone or PDA, as described for example in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,703 to Fuchs et al. and the U.S. Pat. No. 7,224,262 to Simon et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Long-range remote communication and control can be achieved by equipping the vehicle with a cellular transceiver so that a personal communication device such as a cell phone or PDA can communicate with the vehicle via a cellular link. While this approach can reduce vehicle cost by utilizing the battery, display and keyboard of the personal communication device, it requires an on-board cellular transceiver and a separate cellular service contract. This not only increases vehicle and owner cost, but also can lead to owner upgrade expense when advances in communication technology render the on-board equipment obsolete. Accordingly, what is desired is an improved and lower-cost way of achieving long-range remote communication and control for a vehicle with personal communication device.